He spoke first "So why did to want to talk to me Schnee?" He said her name with a sneer.

"I want to listen to your story Mr. Katt."

"'I haven't been called 'Mr' in a while. And what do you mean by 'my story'?" The look of confusion now clear on his face.

"Your story. I met your sister, she told…"

"Neon? You saw her? Is she alright?"

"Yes, I met her at my school. She is a very competent Huntress. Her team nearly beat us in the tournament."

"Huh, she always was a fighter."

"Anyway, as I was saying, she told me if I ever met you I should listen to your story, she said it's what she would do….So let's hear it."

"Really...huh...Well I guess she would say that. When Neon was little I used come home and tell her stories about my day. I would make them up to be stories of a grand adventurer. I'd embellish the details of course. I'm not really sure why I did it, I guess I just liked to see her smile. She used to get this look on her face, her eyes would get huge and she would ask me all sorts of questions. Anyway, I suppose that's what she meant...If only she knew the truth behind those stories."

"So what was the truth behind your grand adventures?"

"The truth? Hah, the truth was I would try and take odd jobs around town to buy food. I have always been fairly good with my hands, and I'm a quick learner, but not many people want a faunus working around them, especially a one eyed faunus"

"If you don't mind me asking how did you lose your eye." Weiss asked...She had been glancing at his ears as he spoke, she had always wondered what faunus ears felt like. Whenever Blake showed hers they always looked so soft.

"Jade & Neon were out in the woods playing, they got lost and frightened. Their fear must have attracted a Beowolf. I found them, told them to run towards home. I tried to scare it off, but it took a swipe at me. I survived, my eye didn't.

"Hold on, who is Jade?"

"Oh, Jade was our little brother. Neon would always tell him my stories, I think she often added her own 'improvements'." Ebon chuckled "He was wilder than Neon. Got himself in to plenty to trouble when he got older."

"What happened to him?" Weiss ask hesitantly.

"He got mixed up in the White Fang. They were raiding a Schnee dust transport, they didn't know it but your father had hired a mercenary group to defend the transport due to the recent attacks. From what I understand almost no one made it back."

"I'm...really sorry." Weiss said, taken aback.

"Well I guess it wasn't really your fault. I told him getting mixed up with the Fang was a bad idea, but he was fighting for what he believed in. Can't fault him for that. Neon took it the hardest, they were really close."

"So how did you end up working here?"

"We were going to lose our house. I had spent my savings getting Neon into school. I took out a loan from your father's company. I didn't have the money to pay it back, but they said if I came to work for them I could work my way out of debt."

"Neon said she hadn't seen you in quite a while. How much longer are you going to be here?"

"I'll be lucky if I'm ever able to leave. We have to live on-site for 'efficiency' they deduct our food and living expenses out of our paycheck, after that I barely make enough to make the minimum payments on my loan and send a little extra to Neon to help her with school."

"How can they do that! That's not employment, that's slavery. Why don't you just leave?"

"Some have tried, once they leave they can't find work. Schnee corp has contacts everywhere, any business who hires them starts having shipments go missing, and sudden strings of burglaries. Then they get letters telling them things will get worse until they fire them. So they have no choice but to come back to work in the mines."

"I'm sorry, the Schnee name used to mean something, something besides corruption and duplicity."

"So fix it" Ebon said

"I promise, I'll do my best." Said Weiss